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PHILADELPHIA, PA, Mar 23 (MARKET WIRE)

i-Meet (www.i-Meet.com), the professional and social network for people who plan meetings and events, announced today that its membership base passed the 5,000 member milestone. With members now in 80 countries around the world, i-Meet helpspeople in the hospitality industry connect, communicate and collaborate.

With the success of social networking at sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, there are predictions that the next big phenomenon will be business communities focusing on specific industries. i-Meet is one of the first such industry-specific efforts, with a model that features a business overlay for its members -- including a system for rating suppliers specifically on meeting and event performance, an engine that enables e-RFIs (Requests for Information), a group collaboration capability, and a focus on community features for the worldwide meeting and event industry. i-Meet also features business functions for suppliers allow organizations to manage activities there through administrative and communication tools. Membership is free at www.i-meet.com.

"When it comes to translating meeting planning work flow to technology, i-Meet's team has proven to be one of the best," said industry veteran Rodman Marymor, President and CEO of Cardinal Communications. "Their introduction of an Online RFI and establishment of an international Skills Marketplace stand out as relevant additions to the meeting planning technology toolbox. I expect that these innovations will become industry standards within the next few years."

"We've worked hard to listen carefully to our members," explained John Pino, i-Meet's Founder and CEO. "We know the industry needs and wants this, and we're grateful that planners and suppliers alike have embraced our direction. We fully expect that this will be the first of many more significant growth milestones."

In addition to the advantages of member-to-member interaction, the community has been an advocate for current industry issues, supporting awareness and calls to action among its members. "There's no better time for people in our industry to come together, especially given the economic and legislative challenges that we face," said Pino.

About i-Meet

Created by the Founder of StarCite, i-Meet.com is focused on building the industry's most relevant worldwide community for the meeting and event industry. Officially launched on November 18, 2008 i-Meet now has over 5,000 members from 80 countries. i-Meet brings social networking, web 2.0 tools, work-flow, relationship opportunities, and industry intelligence to its members.